>That is a very browser-specific method, and URLs should be "handleable"
>by other kinds of apps (like Email, Usenet, etc.). The extended mailto
This is an important factor to remember. URIs are not specific to HTML or
even a web browser. They can be, and are, used anywhere. 32-bit Windows
uses URIs everywhere. Large portions of the Win32 OSs are based on URIs.
You can enter a URI at a command line and invoke the handler related to that
URI-type in Windows. Try bringing up a run dialog and typing
http://www.w3.org/ or mailto:someone@somewhere.com You can enter "start
http://www.w3.org/" from a command console. URIs are used to store certain
information in the system's registry and/or convey that information among
applications.
classid, mailto, http, mid are only a hint of the URIs used in Win32. You
can add a URI handler as easily as a MIME or File type handler in Win32.
Even Windows shortcuts can use URIs.
I wouldn't discount the idea because some browsers don't support it. If we
said that every time something new came up then we would be in terrible
shape. I still would like to know which browsers supposedly break on the
extended mailto URIs. I haven't found any on Windows that break, so far. I
have just about every browser that can run on Windows.
,David Norris
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